TW/CW: Eugenics, nazis, murder, autism parents (not the same as parents of Autistic children), cures, ableism. For multiple reasons I'm concerned about modern eugenics and how enticing it seems to be to the group of people known in the Autistic Community as "autism parents." I witnessed a disturbing amount of enthusiasm about genetic testing from … Continue reading Eugenics
Autism Issues
But You’re High Functioning
There are so many posts and articles written by Autistics about how utterly wrong "functioning labels" are. How inaccurate. Why we generally don't like them. Responding with a functioning label-based observation is such a pervasive response from allistics (non-Autistics) that I think nearly every Autistic writer ends up addressing that nonsense sooner or later. I … Continue reading But You’re High Functioning
Autism and Disability
While taking a break from writing about that horrid autism parent meeting, I realized the other day that it took me until my 99th blog post here to use the word "disabled" or "disability" - so that's been on my mind and there's clearly some stuff to unpack there.. To begin with, I'm not one … Continue reading Autism and Disability
The Autism Parent Group Library
Recently-ish I attended an Autism Parent Support Group Meeting. I wrote a bit about my experience in the link above and it was a difficult post to write up, but there's still so much more I have to say about that meeting. So in an effort to keep some momentum going and get through this … Continue reading The Autism Parent Group Library
So I Attended An “Autism Parent Meeting”
And I've been struggling greatly ever since in pretty much every sense of the word "struggling." I'd read and heard enough to know that the meeting wouldn't be a good place for me, but I wanted to see for myself. I attended legitimately as a parent of an Autistic child and chose not to disclose that … Continue reading So I Attended An “Autism Parent Meeting”
Societal and Parental Expectations
I want to start off by clarifying that I am in no way defending the societal or parental expectations I outline in this post. I find them to be abhorrent, in fact, but it occurred to me that there's not much written by Autistic parents about parenting theory, social expectations, and child development (aside from … Continue reading Societal and Parental Expectations
Augmentative and Alternative Communication
I journaled about AAC (Augmentative & Alternative Communication) back in May, but have only just now gotten around to turning it into a post. The AAC #autchat a bit over a week ago inspired me to get it written finally! So I've been thinking for several months about making some AAC cards for times when … Continue reading Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Blending In, Acceptance, and Disappointing Others
I'm not sure when I learned that I needed to blend in with others for self-preservation purposes. I'm certain that I was very young though. I know for a fact that this knowledge within myself was fairly firmly in place by the time I was 7 years old. Possibly earlier. Blending and the sense that … Continue reading Blending In, Acceptance, and Disappointing Others
A Letter of Encouragement and Support
To my Dear Neurosiblings (and to myself, as well), It is courageous to respect your needs. It requires immense strength to be able to admit that you need more support. Making accommodations for yourself or requesting them from others is a difficult task, at best. It can feel insurmountable at worst. It can feel like … Continue reading A Letter of Encouragement and Support
Time, Mutism, and Levels of Communication
In late April I figured out something else about some of the communication issues in my marriage, which led to a realization that there seem to be different levels of communication for me. Some are easier than others and I can occasionally experience mutism regarding the more difficult types while still managing to use the … Continue reading Time, Mutism, and Levels of Communication
Mamautistic 